Funerary Stela in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, May 2008

Funerary Stela
1st century BC- 4th century AD
From Abydos
Limestone

Accession # 20.2.44

Flanked by Anubis and Osiris are four figures identified by the Greek inscription, "two adults, Pekysis, son of Aruotes, and his brother Pachoumis; two children, Tbaikis the elder and and Tbaikis the younger." Pekysis is probably the individual holding a torch, an attribute unusual in Egyptian-style funerary stelae, although it does have chthonic or underworld associations in Greco-Roman mythology. Anubis carries the key that symbolizes his role as guardian of the tomb and the one having access to the underworld.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.